Paintball
What the hell is paintball? Paintball is an exhilarating sport where you get to play warrior without getting hurt. It basically involves using "markers" (politically correct for "paintball guns") to shoot at other people in games usually with a goal in mind, such as capturing a flag, or eliminating an entire team. The one rule that applies in every game is: if you get shot, you're out! How Do I Play Paintball? There are many ways to play paintball. They can be broken down into either Speedball, Hyperball, Woodsball, Scenario, or Stock games. Speedball and Hyperball games Speedball and Hyperball take place on small fields making them fast paced. Speedball is usually played with inflatable structures in many shapes including cubes, pyramids, cylinders, etc. (usually called "bunkers") while Hyperball replaces these inflatable bunkers with large metallic tubes. Tournaments (professional and non-professional) will almost always be played on speedball fields. Woodsball and Scenario games Woodsball and Scenario are more for recreational players (players who aren't as serious as those going to speedball and hyperball games). Woodsball is (obviously) played in the woods and is where most paintball players start out. Trees and foliage provide great natural cover, but field owners may add in even more with wooden structures, cars, and tires. Scenario games are unlike other games. Players will pretend they are in a different situation, such as escorting a VIP from point A to point B, or even add in special roles for certain people (such as medics, demolitions experts, etc.) Scenarios are commonly played in the woods, but can actually be played anywhere you can come up with a good scenario (and where nobody will get hurt by a stray paintball.) Some scenario games include VIP, sniper, and attack/defend. Stock games Stock games are a different way of playing paintball. It has the same rules as any other game, and it can be played on any type of field. The difference? Everyone uses a cheap 20-dollar plastic pump marker! Stock games are preferred by many people because it encourages teamwork, and it saves money. Pump markers (see 'Markers' section) greatly restrict the player's firing speed so they are forced to conserve ammunition. New players also tend to waste paint when using a mechanical or electronic marker, so stock games are usually the best place for new players to start their paintball experience so they learn the value of using strategy over technology. Some high-end markers are also made and sold with stock paintball in mind. Does it hurt? Yes and no: Usually it stings for a second or two. It's comparable to being snapped by a rubber band. It also depends on how much clothing is on you, because more clothing provides padding for the impact, meaning less pain. To keep the sport fun, all good paintball fields regulate the speed of paintball guns. The speed is always 300 Feet Per Second or lower, which has shown to be a safe standard speed. After getting hit by a paintball, the spot of impact will usually form a ring-shaped welt although some places such as the thigh may form minor bruises. What Do I Need To Play? Every paintball player must be equipped with a marker, and a mask. Optional equipment includes squeegies, pod packs/harnesses, and pods (filled with extra paintballs). Money First and foremost, you will need money if you want to do paintballing as a hobby. Paintball fanatics are known to have very little money for anything that doesn't involve shooting paint at things, living or nonliving. Good players who get enough attention can aquire financial support from a sponsor for them to play in tournaments. Markers This is obviously the most important piece of equipment for playing. Markers come in many shapes and sizes, and some operate in different ways than others as well as using different parts. The price of a marker can be as low as 20 and as high as several thousand dollars. A first-time player who is unsure if they want to play or not should not buy a marker, and should instead rent a marker for their first game to see if they enjoy it or not. There are generally four types of markers: Pump, mechanical, electronic, and oddball. Pump Pumps are obviously identified as having a shotgun-like pump under the barrel. Using it takes a while but it's simple: after a shot is fired, you pump it once so you can fire again. It takes a while to fire another round, so most experienced players will recommend that new players start with using pump markers in regular games or by playing in stock games to develop good habits of paint usage. New players are known to develop the bad habit of wasting paint. A variety of pumps are available to players but they are much harder to find than regular markers. Pumps aren't just for starting players, there are high-end markers that are pump-action. The prices of pumps can vary from $20 to hundreds of dollars. Mechanical Mechanical markers are the traditional paintball gun. No pump and no batteries make them the popular choice for the general paintballing crowd. They fire as fast as most players need their markers to fire and come pretty cheap compared to many electronic markers. That's not to say that expensive markers are all electronic, though. Plenty of high-end markers are mechanical. Electronic The most experienced players in paintball will be found using electronic markers, but even markers as cheap as 80 dollars can be found with electronic hardware. Electronic markers have much less trigger-pulling resistance than mechanical markers. They also don't require the player to pull the trigger as far, and can thus be fired exponentially faster than the mechanical markers as well. Often, electronic markers have the option of using different firing modes. Usually these firing modes are safety, semi-automatic, reactive (one shot on pull, one shot on release), 3-shot burst, 5-shot burst, and full-automatic. The experienced players usually use semi-automatic because many fields and tournaments don't allow full-auto, and because they can fire much faster than automatic using the semi-automatic setting. Players almost always combine their electronic markers with motorized hoppers because of the fast firing speed. Normal gravity-fed hoppers can't feed paintballs into the gun fast enough Oddball This is the only name I can give those "other" markers which are barely markers at all. Specifically, wrist rockets and blowguns. Some people use wrist rockets as cheap alternatives to spending any money at all on air and barely spend anything on paint because of the slow firing rate. Its simplicity of operation also guarantees no mechanical failure. Blowguns are a rare sight, and they usually use small .38 paintballs as opposed to the normal .68 paintball. The .38 paintballs are somewhat easy to find online but finding them in stores is a hard task, although they do save money on air and are very simple to use. Masks In paintball a mask is REQUIRED in order to play because it provides protection for your face, ears, and eyes. Paintballs go at fast speeds when fired, and getting hit in the face without protection can result in painful and unnecessary injuries such as lost teeth, or even require open cataract surgery if hit in the eye. Every paintball field has a rule about keeping your mask on when in a paintball field, so you had best follow it. Some masks will add additional protection for your neck, or even the top and back of your head. A common problem with some masks is fog appearing on the lens. This is avoided by replacing them with thermal lenses, or just buying a mask with thermal lenses in the first place. These thermal lenses are made to prevent fogging and are highly recommended by all paintball players. Tanks A tank is a canister filled with either carbon dioxide (CO2), propane, compressed air, or nitrogen (N2). These are all compressed gases that are used to project paintballs out of your marker. Certain markers such as the Autococker can only fire compressed air and nitrogen because carbon dioxide has physical properties where it tends to expand even after it has exited the tank. Tanks come in many capacities and shapes, and can be made from different materials as well including carbon fiber. They usually have screw threads on one end and are meant to be screwed into the bottom, backside, or sometimes front, of the marker. Tanks are made to be safe and durable during a game, but high pressures inside the tank still mean you MUST treat it with care. Heed the warnings written on the tank. Leaving it in hot temperatures, dropping it, striking it with anything, shooting it, whatever, will give you big problems. Hydro Testing It's a fact, tanks don't last forever. When every tank is made, a date is stamped on it to identify its age. Once the tank has reached x number of years, no responsible airsmith (a person who fills up tanks) will fill it up, because the tank is nearing the age where it may be unsafe if filled with high-pressure gases. If you have an expensive tank you don't want to trash, you can take it to a paintball store or field that does hydrotesting, and might determine that your tank is fit enough to be used for another year or two. You give the store/field around 20 dollars (whatever they may charge) and they will put it inside a highly-durable case and try to fill it remotely. If it's too weak, the tank will explode, and the airsmith is protected by the case isolating the explosion, and you don't get a refund or your tank back. However, if the tank passes the test then they will slap a new date on your tank and you can go spend your money on something better, like a new barrel or a nice jersey! If you have a tank that is past its date and you don't want to bother hydrotesting them, don't throw them away! Your local paintball store will most likely take them and dispose of them in a proper way, free of charge. Hoppers A hopper is a pod that usually fits on top of your marker, and it holds and dispenses paintballs to your marker as you fire them. Hoppers usually hold around 200 (except for stock markers which hold between 10 and 20). Hoppers usually feed paintballs to your marker just with gravity, but sometimes that's not fast enough to keep up with the rate you're shooting at. That's why there are motorized battery-powered hoppers that will force paintballs into your marker at a faster rate than normal gravity-fed hoppers can. Beware though, being able to fire faster tends to develop a bad habit of wasting paint. Your A-game Regardless of what type of game is being played, paintball presents its players with both physical and mental challenge. Games typically require speed and stamina from its players, as well as reflexes, team tactics, individual tactics, and communication with your teammates. Teamwork is the most important key to winning a paintball game. Never start a game without a strategy for you and your team. What to Wear First-timers and uncommon players should wear old jeans, a old pair of shoes/boots with good traction in dirt, and a sweat shirt over a tshirt. Expect to get dirty. If it's your first time DO NOT wear a T shirt and shorts. I've seen a girl play in a tank top, bad idea. Keep in mind the more clothes you're wearing the more padding you're gonna have. If you have enough clothing on you're also more likely to get a paintball to bounce off of you instead of breaking. More experienced or professional players tend to invest in jerseys, pants, and shoes made with paintball in mind. Jerseys are usually made from quick-absorbing material and usually have padding in the shoulder/elbow area for going prone, and non-slipping areas in front of the shoulder that provide a good surface to brace their tank on for a steadier shot. Paintballing pants are also full of padding, and the shoes are made to provide traction. Buying paintball clothes isn't needed to play and isn't needed to have fun, and they cost quite a bit more than normal clothes so only buy it if you're becoming a serious player. Testicle cups are important for the men for obvious reasons. Kneepads and elbow-pads are also made and sold for paintball so players can take hard dives without getting hurt. Physical Conditions Even if you are physically challenged or injured, the game of paintball may still have a place for you. Slower teammates are perfect for staying behind to provide covering fire. Some of those confined to a wheelchair haven't let their condition keep them off the fields, and there are even entire paintball teams made up of the handicapped. Paintballing in the Seattle area Washington's abundnace of forested areas make woodsball and scenario games a popular choice, but speedball/hyperball fields can also be found easily. There are really no fields in Seattle, because rent tends to be high around the urban areas, and because paintball fields (both indoor and outdoor) tend to take up large areas, so players have to go for 10-60 minute drives outside of Seattle to find a field. Indoor Fields in the Seattle area *Doodlebug Sportz in Everett *Splat Attack (Indoor) in Kent Outdoor Fields in the Seattle area * Hole in the wall in Maple Valley *Splat Attack Outdoor in Milton *Paranoid Paintball in Federal Way *Eastside Paintball in Duvall *Westside Paintball in Everett Local Stores Nates Army Navy & Paintball Google Maps Link External Links Wikipedia's Article on Paintball Warpig One of the best Paintball websites PB Review Washington Paintball field Reviews